Situation Definition:
Julie Brown is a distinguished investigative reporter for the Miami Herald who was one of the headline speakers at the Foster Foreman Lecture. She is most known for her coverage of the Jeffrey Epstein story, she brought to light all of the sex trafficking crimes that he was committing involving young girls that was thrown under the table and ignored for many years.
Julie brought up a lot of things that were truly eye opening to me was how people “in power” have been getting away with a lot of coverups during our lifetimes. Jeffery Epstein was a powerful man with a lot of money and assets who had relationships with a lot of powerful people. Breaking a story about his evil acts was truly groundbreaking. Another ethical issue is something we see a lot of in journalism, which is the debate of naming sexual assault victims, such as the girls who were trafficked by Epstein.
Analysis:
The part of the talk that really opened my eyes was when Brown talked about the relationships that Epstein had with high profile people, such as President Donald Trump and former President Bill Clinton. She said that Clinton would even fly on Epstein’s plane sometimes while these girls were even present. This could be very intimidating for any reporter to go after someone under these circumstances.
Getting these girls to come forward and talk could be the hardest thing to do as sex crimes in today’s society are some of the most polarizing crimes to cover for a reporter. Brown did this and provided the stories in great detail in articles published by the Miami Herald and New York Times. She said speaking to these victims was very hard. “They blame themselves, which was the hardest thing for me to deal with.”(Brown, 2019)
That quote really got me thinking of how women have trouble coming forward because they fear of retaliation, even though they are the victims. Women are 21 times more likely to be victims of rape or sexual assault than men (Rand, 2010). However according to Women in Society, a lot of sex crimes also go unreported, because women fear that they may be further victimized by law enforcement authorities if they report the crime. Women also sometimes even blame themselves for the sexual assault(Rand, 2010)
When talking to these victims, and sharing their stories, I feel like Brown brought to light the continuing world of where women feel it is safe to come forward and share their stories no matter who there accuser is. I commend her for that and hope she brings to light more of these stories.
Conclusion:
Sexual Assault and sex trafficking are something that we sadly seem to see or read about in the news every day. Reporters like Julie Brown are starting to bring to light the stories of the women who are accusing even the most powerful of people such as Jeffrey Epstein. This is changing the culture where women are becoming less afraid to come forward and report their assaulters.
We still have a long way to go, as sexual assault and sex trafficking is still far too prevalent in our society. But stories like this, the Brock Turner scandal at Stanford, the Brett Kavanaugh case and many others are bringing to light the dangers of sexual assault and it’s reporters like Julie Brown who are creating a safer environment for victims.
References:
Hsu, T. (2019, July 10). Epstein Case Was Cold, Until Reporter Got Accusers to Talk. New York Times, p. B1(L). Retrieved from https://link-gale-com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/apps/doc/A592758616/GIC?u=psucic&sid=GIC&xid=4ef50eb7